RE: Faith community calls for the Judiciary Committee to pass the
Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, S. 1917

Dear Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Feinstein,

The 60 undersigned faith organizations write today in support of the
Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (S. 1917). We are delighted by the
re-introduction of this critical legislation and the broad bipartisan
consensus calling for an end to the federal prison crisis. We share
your commitment to criminal justice reform and look forward to the
hearing on this legislation and eventual passage in the Senate Judiciary
Committee.

Our faith communities are on the ground in neighborhoods ravaged by a
broken criminal justice system. We see this nation’s reliance on mass
incarceration to solve drug addiction, poverty, mental illness, and
joblessness – societal problems that are exacerbated in communities of
color by racial disparities – as an affront to justice and human
dignity. As people of faith, we are called both to comfort and to serve
those harmed by crime, as well as to support accountability,
rehabilitation and restoration for those who offend. To that end, we are
joined in our commitment to advancing the Sentencing Reform and
Corrections Act.

The ongoing crisis of overcrowding in our federal prison system,
resulting from excessive mandatory minimum sentences, is exacerbated by
high levels of recidivism due in large part to a system that provides
limited rehabilitative opportunities. Our moral sensibility compels
faith leaders across the country to call for reform. We can no longer
wait for action. The politics in Washington may have changed, but we
know first-hand that the injustices of mass incarceration across the
country have not. To miss the opportunity to pass the Sentencing Reform
and Corrections Act would be a major deferral of justice for thousands
of people who need a fairer sentencing system and rehabilitation.

We support the drug felony sentencing reductions proposed in the
Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, including the elimination of the
excessive “three strikes” life imprisonment for prior drug felony
convictions, out of a shared belief in fairness and second chances.
People are more than their offenses and have the human capacity for
growth, change, and redemption. This belief is why our faith
organizations also support provisions giving judges greater discretion
to take individual details into account when sentencing below or above
the formulaic mandatory minimums required under current law.

Moreover, we believe continued inaction will harm children and families
across the country. The burden of mass incarceration is felt most
intensely by children with parents in prison or labeled with a criminal
record. The long absence of mothers and fathers, who are loved, valued,
and critical to maintaining their children’s well-being, has a lasting
impact. Many families lose income when a parent is incarcerated. On
average, households with an incarcerated family member owe more than
\$13,000 in court fees alone, an amount that is nearly half of the
average annual income of low-income households. Consequently, according
to a recent study by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, nearly
two-thirds of families with an incarcerated member were unable to meet
their family’s basic needs, such as food and housing for children.
Nationally, 1 in 28 children has an incarcerated parent, as does 1 in 9
African-American children. Their likelihood of incarceration increases
when this disruption enters their life. In order to strengthen family
relationships and make sure proportionate justice is meted out, we
support the provisions to limit federal life sentences for youth and
adults and the elimination of youth solitary confinement.

We are also eager to see this legislation provide for further resources
for rehabilitative programming, including expanding access to treatment,
restorative justice/diversion programs, and education for those in
prison.

We do not support the new mandatory minimum sentences and sentencing
enhancements currently prescribed in S.1917, including the sentencing
enhancement for fentanyl of up to five years. There is no empirical
evidence supporting the notion that new sentencing enhancements will
have any impact in reducing the trafficking or use of this or any other
drug. Further, this kind of enforcement-first policy in previous
legislation has led to the problems we are now seeking to correct.
Nevertheless, we acknowledge the nature of compromise and the bill’s
overall contribution to furthering a fair and proportional justice
system not disproportionately focused on retribution and damage.

Our faith in the divine and commitment to the inherent worth and dignity
of every human life compels us as a faith community to call for reforms
that bring us closer to the end of mass incarceration. We are united in
our belief that criminal justice policies based solely on the intention
to punish the offender are both ungodly and ineffective. Individuals
from specific communities or groups are not born onto this earth
predetermined to become violators of the law. We support policies based
on principles of rehabilitation and redemption of the human spirit.
Rehabilitation is defined as the act of restoring something to its
original state. The formerly incarcerated so restored can return to our
communities as contributing members of society.

We look forward to moving this legislation forward through the Judiciary
Committee and call for Senators to vote in favor of S.1917.

Marina Golan-Vilella serves as a Program Assistant for Domestic Policy at FCNL. Marina works under José Santos Woss on mass incarceration issues and campaign finance reform (election integrity). She lobbies members of Congress for criminal justice reform, from police oversight to prisoner re-entry programs. Her responsibilities include researching legislator positions, writing policy briefs and updates, and conducting outreach to FCNL constituents.